Play by Play: Desire Lines

Stageworks/Hudson’s 14th annual Play by Play festival of new one-act plays brings together work by some of the best contemporary dramatists to explore this year’s theme, desire. Eight world-premiere one-act plays will be performed by four regional actors; each script examines the risky and often comical routes people follow when coerced by their wants, needs and desires.

The scripts range from Samual Brett William’s Bobby Herbert, which finds two average guys stranded on a rooftop with a three-day supply of Twinkies and a newfound sense of their own mortality, to Sybil Patten’s American Orchard, the story of a white, upper-class couple who mistakenly adopt a 22-year-old Afghan farmer, and Tom Coash’s Kamasutra, in which a holiday visit to the illustrious temple explores sex and love in the twilight years. Pictured are (l-r) Rachel Sullivan and Richard G. Rodgers in Dearly Beloved.

This year’s Play by Play festival will be performed at the newish venue 440 Upstairs at Proctor’s (440 State St., Schenectady). The festival opens Wednesday (Nov. 28) at 8 PM and continues through Dec. 9. Tickets are $26. For more information, or to make reservations, call the Proctor’s box office at 346-6204.

Expressions in Blue

Longtime local arts organization Black Dimensions in Art have teamed up again with the New York State Museum, this time for the exhibit Expressions in Blue: A Feeling, a Place, a Color, a Sound. As the exhibit notes note, “The works in the exhibition explore the meaning of the word ‘blue,’ whether it is the musical legacy of the Blues, the natural environment of sea or sky, or the portrayal of a mood.”

The exhibit includes painting, sculpture, photography and textile designs by 22 artists. Co-curator Stephen Tyson writes that the exhibit strives to represent “an achievement in the continuum of creative ingenuity and artistic integrity within the African Diaspora—and beyond.”

Artists featured include Savannah, Ga.-based Jerome Meadows (pictured is his assemblage Bennu’s Bounty, 2007) and Saratoga Springs “textile collagist” Francelise Dawkins.

Expressions in Blue: A Feeling, a Place, a Color, a Sound is on exhibit at the New York State Museum (Empire State Plaza, Albany) through March 16, 2008. For more info, call 474-5877.

Elliot Yamin

Elliot Yamin received his big break on American Idol season No. 5, winning audiences over with his rich, jazzy R&B selections. Well, Yamin has matured past his Idol days, and he’s grown a beard to prove it. His self-titled debut album, for which he finagled an industry-shocking 50/50 profit split with Hickory Records, has graced the Billboard charts for 35 weeks. He’ll be joined at Revolution Hall by Nashville-based up-and-coming R&B crooner Josh Hoge and edgy alternative powerpoppers the Last Goodnight.

Elliot Yamin will bring his soulful pop to Revolution Hall (425 River St., Troy) on Friday (Nov. 23) at 8 PM. Tickets are $22. For more information, or to purchase tickets, call 274-0553.